DPRK sentences S. Korean missionary to life hard labor for spying

PYONGYANG, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) court sentenced a South Korean convicted of "subversion, espionage and agitation" to hard labor for life, the official KCNA news agency reported Saturday.

At a trial held on Friday, Kim Jong Uk, a 50-year-old Christian missionary, pleaded guilty to his crimes, including anti-DPRK religious acts, setting up underground churches and spying on the DPRK.

The court did not hand him death sentence in consideration of his repentant attitude, said the KCNA.

Kim was arrested in early October. At a televised press conference in February, he confessed spying for the South Korean intelligence agency. But this was denied by South Korea's National Intelligence Service.

Kim's sentence came after Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary, was arrested in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor last year for anti-state crimes.